A lot of effort goes into keeping a city clean. One particular service that goes a long way in improving the appearance of a town is parking lot sweeping, but what is it, exactly? For starters, street sweepers are tasked with cleaning and maintaining streets. Typically it’s a service more often found in urban areas with a lot of traffic. Though street sweeping was first developed in the 19th century, modern street sweepers have come a long way in terms of technology. Today, many sweepers are mounted on trucks and can actually vacuum debris from streets and parking lots.

The idea for street sweepers was started by C.S. Bishop back in 1849, and he actually patented the very first successful machines. It turns out he was on to a great idea because today the road and highway maintenance industry creates about $42 billion in revenue each year in the United States. On top of that, the industry that C.S. Bishop essentially founded now employs close to 134,714 people and street sweeping companies have popped up in towns and cities across the country. In fact, it’s currently estimated that nearly 9,224 street sweeping companies now exist in the U.S.

Studies conducted in recent years have also pointed out the many environmental benefits tied to regular street sweeping and parking lot cleaners. Because street sweeper trucks collect and do away with leaves, paper, and other debris that would otherwise be left to collect in gutters, the service helps ensure that street debris cannot block stormwater facilities that would otherwise lead to flooding during heavy rainfall. Additionally, it’s also an effective method of removing pollutants from city streets, cutting back on harmful runoff in urban areas that could potentially harm the water quality. A few examples of these pollutants include oil, toxic chemicals from vehicles, grease, road salts, and heavy metals.

Does your city invest in sweeper trucks, regular street sweeping or parking lot sweeping? With all the research and studies done to highlight the benefits of the service, it’s hard to imagine any city not investing in such a service. As if the environmental and health benefits aren’t enough, one can’t argue the difference in appearance between a street or parking lot that has been treated to a street sweeping service, and one that hasn’t.